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Whats the best way to attach swarovski crystals to clothing?

Hey, Whats the best way to attach swarovski crystals to clothing?

If you mean the classic flat back crystals there are two options that i find work best. The simple metal prong sets are easy to use, hold the crystals tightly, and when you tire of the garment the crystals can be un-set and then recycled onto something new. The metal prong sets are placed on the wrong side of the garment, the prongs pushed through to the right side, the crystal placed in the center, and the prongs pushed over the crystal to hold it in place. you can buy tools for bending the prongs, or you can use the eraser end of a pencil, a needle nose pliers or a the tip of a metal thimble, all which are cheaper and easier to use than a real crystal setter. Items that use prong set crystals are machine washable provided you turn the garment inside out. Flat silverbacks can also be glued on with a special gem glue. In a professional setting for me, I find the glue messy and time consuming, but it's a good option if you only want a few crystals on one item only.

There are also the newer hot fix crystals available. These have a special heat activated glue on the back. These are applied to the garment with a special heat tool that looks similar to a wood-burning tool or a hobby soldering iron. The crystal tool uses a lower heat than the soldering iron or the wood burner. The only disadvantage is that if you want to use the crystals again they have to be heat un-set, and then they will need to be prong set if they are to be used again. When properly set, hot fix crystals are supposed to be machine washable and dry cleanable...however I prefer hand washing anything embellished.

For any crystals with holes in them, the sew in kind, use a long staple polyester thread such as Mettler or Gutterman brand to sew them down. sew firmly with doubled thread and knot well on the wrong side. Hand wash anything with sew on crystals.

The rhinestone guy has a website for with prong sets, flat silverback crystals, hot fix crystals, and tools. http://www.rhinestoneguy.com/

I use a tool called the Bejewler pro for my business. It's a easy to hold as a pencil. Her's one from the Creative Crystal website: http://www.creativecrystal.com/BeJeweler-electric-rhinestone-applicators-s/1.htm I think these are also available at Michael's

I buy many of my crystals in bulk from a Canadian source, Northern Bead: Heres their crystal page, scroll down to for the links to the flat silver backs and the hot fix crystals. http://northernbead.com/swarovski/index.htm They also sell tools, prongs sets and gem glue.

And that's a quick intro to crystals on clothing!

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